“They (The British) are like their own beer; froth on top, dregs at bottom, the middle excellent.” - Voltaire
We arrived in Wales yesterday after a weekend in Cambridge with family. It has been ten years since I last saw Ann, Alan and Beryl. Other than Ann who is now beautifully slim, they look the same. Even Beryl who is now eighty-seven years old, hasn’t changed a whit. If I hadn’t been told, I would never have guessed at the multitude of health problems she has dealt with in the past decade. She made a lovely lunch for us on Friday, even baking sausage rolls, cheese biscuits and two types of cakes. Incredible.
When I was in England ten years ago, Ann and Alan were the grandparents of two little girls. Now their granddaughters number five, each more beautiful than the other. Their two sons were young men then. Now they are settled into work, marriages and fatherhood. They have become confident men. It was wonderful to see.
Merv ‘s cousin Ian also visited along with his wife and step-daughter. It had been fourteen years since we last saw him. He also hasn’t changed much physically though the wife he brought to meet us this time is not the same wife we met last time. Happily, he traded up. All these people, plus a couple of friends of Ann’s descended upon their small Histon home on Saturday. Remarkably she fed us all with seeming ease and enormous grace. While she prepared the meal on Saturday morning, Alan took us into Cambridge for a walk around the university and the town. Cambridge is a very beautiful city with charm and vibrancy. Because Alan works at the university, we had access to places ordinary mortals were restricted from entering. Walking through the back of Kings College we were able to watch the punters.
It was a sad parting yesterday afternoon. Time flew far too quickly. I would have loved more time with Ann and Alan. Merv and Jacob felt the same.
Now we are in Betws-y-Coed in Northern Wales. We are staying in a charming bed and breakfast called Glyntwrog House. I’m trying to learn a few words of Welsh but the language is very hard. I would be happy to master “hello” (shwamae), “nice to meet you” (braf cwrdd a chi) ”please” (os gwelwch yn dda) and “thank you” (diolch). I’m not holding out much hope.
Today we will explore mountains and castles. The little I`ve seen so far of Wales, already marks it as one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Though we were warned over and over during our week in England that the Welsh are not very hospitable, we have found the opposite to be true. We had a wonderful dinner last night, served in the most gracious manner. We have been treated as the most valued of guests.
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